Sudanese Ambassador speaks against African gang reporting

By Sally Whyte

The new Sudanese ambassador has warned against the reporting of race-based violence in Australian media over the last two months, labelling it "dangerous".

Dr Ibrahim Baroudi, who has been in Australia since September, said that such reporting was a threat to stability in Australia.

New Sudanese ambassador Dr Ibrahim Baroudi, his wife Riham Abdullah Mahmoud Elnazir, and their exhibition - the ambassador's wife made some of the art in the exhibition.

Photo: karleen minney

"I think it is very dangerous to promote any concept of making some race or one race in Australia as a race of crime because that will create hate between people and that is very dangerous for the stability of the country," he said.

"That's why I appeal for Australians not to exaggerate the personal acts and demonstrate them as the behaviour of a race or a nation."

Dr Baroudi is the ambassador for the Republic of Sudan, which is different to South Sudan, where many refugees have come from.

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He says a lack of knowledge about the region means people are often confused about Sudan and South Sudan, and that media and political debate about crime in Melbourne has not helped the situation.

"Australia is a multicultural country and very good example for co-existence between all these different races," Dr Baroudi said.

Until last year Sudan did not have an embassy in Australia, and Dr Baroudi said he hoped to further relations between the two countries in resources and agriculture, pointing out Sudan's potential in regards to minerals, fuel and livestock. He also suggested Sudan could become a partner for Australia when it comes to combating people smuggling, due to the country's location in Africa and coast facing the Red Sea.

"Sudan has played a very good role in controlling this immigration and smuggling and other kind of illegal activities," Dr Baroudi said. Sudan could be "a first front to defend the other countries like Australia to receiving people with some problems that could be dangerous for the security or for the country," he said.

A civil war in the country resulted in the creation of the country of South Sudan in 2011, and an international arrest warrant exists for the country's president Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of the country.

Recent months have seen a change in Sudan's relationships with world powers.

In October the US government lifted sanctions on the country which were designed to resolve the conflict in Darfur, but it still remains on a US list of countries considered a state sponsor or terrorism. In November last year, Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Dr Baroudi said that Sudan's relationships with other countries did not affect its relationship with Australia.

"Sudan is seeking all the time for the common interests on a bilateral basis," he said.

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"That means if Sudan has good relations with Russia it doesn't mean it should have bad relations with US and in this context also Sudan is seeking to have good relations with Australia in the international arena."

Part of changing the way Australians see the country is an exhibition of Sudanese art and artefacts at the embassy in O'Malley, which will be opened on Monday night. A ceremony celebrating the inauguration of the embassy will include a Sudanese band and Sudanese cuisine. The exhibition includes a recreation of a traditional marriage ceremony, photos of the pyramids in Sudan dating back to the Kush era and other Sudanese artefacts. The ambassador and his wife, who made some of the artworks, are encouraging members of the public to visit the exhibition during business hours.